Sadborow Solar Ltd's application to construct a 31.4-acre solar farm at Gashay Farm, above Marshwood, has been refused by West Dorset District Council. The proposal was to build on an unspoilt sloping green field site with ancient woodland, bisected by the world-famous Wessex Ridgeway Trail and clearly visible from the surrounding countryside.
Thanks to everyone for their help and support in protecting our beautiful landscape. We secured over 300 letters objecting to the proposal, compared with 13 in support.
What's new:
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West Dorset District Council refused the planning application on 28 April 2016. Their decision notice says:
- "It is considered that the scheme, by reason of its extent and scale, comprising dark coloured PV panel arrays in linear repetitive rows, together with the ancillary infrastructure would result in a geometric industrial type development visible from public rights of way. This would harm the character and special qualities of the site, the Axe Valley Hills Landscape Character Area, the setting of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the local landscape."
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The case officer recommended refusal, saying:
- "This scheme proposes a renewable energy project in an attractive tract of rural landscape adjoining and affecting the setting of the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Whilst it would provide energy benefits, economic benefits during construction and some ecological benefits, these are not considered to outweigh the visual harm and natural beauty which would be inflicted on this remote and cherished landscape."
- Both the Dorset AONB Landscape Planning Officer and the Senior Landscape Architect at West Dorset District Council have recommended against the proposals. The AONB said
- "Overall, I consider that the significant landscape and visual effects I have identified would not conform to the AONB's Management Plan or Local Plan Policy ENV 1."
- "I would conclude that the above policy tests are not met. Failure of these policy tests would be considered to give a justifiable reason for refusal on landscape grounds. When considering these effects against the benefits associated with the scheme, in line with NPPF para 115, 'great weight' should be given to the conservation of landscape and scenic beauty of the AONB in the planning balance."
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Natural England recommended
refusing permission, saying
- "Natural England ... considers that the proposals after mitigation will have long term significant adverse visual impacts on views to and from the Dorset AONB, including from view points form the Wessex Ridgeway long distance path. The proposals will therefore not serve to conserve, or enhance the special qualities of the Dorset AONB and are therefore clearly contrary to the policies and aims of the Dorset AONB Management Plan and contrary to Local Plan Policy Env 1 that seek to protect and enhance the natural beauty of the AONB. On this basis Natural England recommends the refusal of the current application."
- See this quote from Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss which says she
- "does not want to see [English farmland's] appearance blighted by solar farms. Farming is what our farms are for and it is what keeps our landscape beautiful. … It makes my heart sink to see row upon row of solar panels where once there was a field of wheat or grassland for livestock to graze."
Things you can do
- Join the Facebook group Stop Sadborow Solar for information and updates
More information
- You can see the original application here. There's a scary illustration of the panels in the fields here
- Sadborow Solar's revised proposals were published on the West Dorset District Council website in late December and in January. They hardly differed from the previous proposal: the site was the same, with the same area. See here for an illustration. A brief analysis of the revised proposals is here.
- We submitted further comments - see the "Stop Sadborow Solar" representations in the correspondence section of the WDDC website - including new photomontages showing the adverse visual impact of the proposals.
- See the articles about our protest in the "Bridport & Lyme Regis News" and in the "Dorset Echo". Also this article in the Bridport & Lyme Regis News about the proposal being turned down by the District Council.
- More photos here, including ones from the community walk on 8 November. Do send us any you take.
- See this complaint by Coombe Bissett and Homington Parish Council about British Solar Renewables reneged on an offer of community benefit to the parish.
- See this story "Begdale Road, Elm, is being destroyed by over the limit lorries on way to solar farm development say residents" about the damage being caused by a solar farm being constructed by British Solar Renewables in Cambridgeshire.
- British Solar Renewables were fined £250,000 with £72,000 costs for breaching the construction, design and management regulations by failing to ensure the safety of power cables during the construction of another solar farm in Devon. Ashley Coe, who was working on the site, suffered a 33,000 volt electric shock but miraculously survived. See the stories on the BBC and the Western Morning News.
- See this piece used to promote the sale of pheasants from the Sadborow Estate, and emphasising the unspoilt countryside, habitat and wildlife on the Estate - ironic in the light of the application to site a solar farm there.
- Read local farmer Robert Langford's views.
- See here for a runner's perspective on the proposed development.
- See here for an analysis of the impact of the proposed solar farm on the surrounding Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
Email us for further information at stopsadborowsolar@gmail.com